AZ man sentenced in online selling, manufacturing of steroids

The following news release was sent by the U.S. Dept. of Justice District of Connecticut:

PHOENIX - Nora R. Dannehy, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TYLER J. LUNN, 28, of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Mark R. Kravitz in New Haven to five months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, the first five months of which LUNN must serve in home confinement.On March 24, 2008, LUNN pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids.

According to documents filed with the Court and statements made in court, LUNN conspired with Edwin Porter and Matthew Peltz to purchase more than one kilogram of raw steroid powder from China, manufacture anabolic steroids at his home, and distribute them to customers around the country through a MySpace.com profile and an Internet web site they created, .

This matter stems from Operation Phony Pharm, an investigation headed by the FBI's Healthcare Fraud Unit in the District of Connecticut.Using several sophisticated investigative techniques, this initiative has targeted web sites and individuals who are selling Schedule II and III pharmaceuticals over the Internet without a doctor's consultation or a legitimate legal written prescription.The investigation also sought to identify and close down underground laboratories in the U.S. that are making these drugs from raw materials obtained from outside the U.S.

Porter and Peltz each have pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of anabolic steroids.They await sentencing.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward Chang with the assistance of law student intern Erika Maki.